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For whale enthusiasts in British Columbia and Washington Springer (A73), a member of B.C.’s A4 pod of northern resident killer whales, is a household name. She made headlines in 2002 after becoming orphaned at two-years-old and was found sick and alone near Seattle, hundreds of kilometres from home. A few months later Springer was successfully rescued, rehabilitated and released back to the wild with her pod.
Then to everyone’s delight on July 4, 2013 (11 years later) Springer was sighted by DFO scientist Graeme Ellis with a newborn calf! Springer and her calf were once again spotted this June 2014 by researchers from the Hakai Beach Institute, the Vancouver Aquarium and the Marine Education Research Society. The sighting was an exciting discovery confirming that the calf had made it through its first year of life, a great accomplishment for a young killer whale and especially for first time mothers like Springer.
The killer whales that live off our coast have been the focus of collaborative long term study efforts since the mid-1970s. The late Dr. Michael Bigg discovered that each has unique markings on its dorsal fins and saddle patch that can be used to identify it individually. Since this discovery, every identified killer whale on our coast is assigned a unique scientific number allowing us to keep track of individuals. Springer is A73 and her calf A104.
After numbers have been issued and after a calf has made it through that challenging first year, many whales are also given a common name. The Whale Museum on San Juan Island does this task for the Southern Residents, and the Vancouver Aquarium Wild Killer Whale Adoption Program leads this process for Northern Residents and some Bigg’s (formerly known as transient) killer whales.
Springer is a special whale and her calf needs a special name; so we are looking for your help. Each northern resident is named after a place along the coast of BC that is of some significance to it. It might have been the first place it was spotted or a place in the same region where its mother was named. The name should have some significance to that particular whale. ie: Springer was named after Springer Point on Sonora Island.
Suggestions for the calf’s name can be emailed to [email protected], along with a sentence or two about the significance of the suggestion.
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